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FACULTY OF HEALTH AND APPLIED SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS

SETS AND RELATIONS

MIT112S LECTURE NOTES

Author: Mr G. Tapedzesa

TAPEDZESA G, MATHEMATICS & STATISTICS DEPARTMENT, NUST

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CHAPTER 6: SETS AND RELATIONS

In this chapter we will discuss definitions of some basic set theory concepts. As we shall see, properties of sets are
very similar to properties of propositions (Chapter 4) and to properties of logic circuits (to be discuused later in the
course). The chapter concludes with an investigation of relations; in particular, equivalence relations and functions.

SETS
A set is a collection or group of distinct, well-defined objects. Well-defined means, it must be absolutely clear that
which object belongs to the set and which does not. Consider the following illustrative examples:

1. ‘The collection of positive numbers less than 10’ is a set, because, given any numbers, we can always find out
whether that number belongs to the collection or not.
2. ‘The collection of good students in your class’ is not a set as in this case no definite rule is given to enable us to
determine whether a particular student of your class is good or not.
3. ‘The collection of first five months of a year’ is a set.
4. ‘The collection of rich man in your town’ is not a set. Explain why.

Exercise: State, giving a reason, whether each of the following collections forms a set or not:
1. The collection of vowels in the English alphabet: a, e, i, o, u.
2. Even natural numbers less than 20.
3. A group of NUST students aged between 18 years and 25 years.
4. A collection of red flowers.
5. A collection of lovely flowers.
6. The collection of past presidents of the United States.
7. A group of young dancers.
8. Seven most smart students in a class.
9. Three best surgeons in Namibia.
10. All difficult problems in Chapter 3 of these notes

Elements of a Set
The different objects that form a set are called the elements of a set or the members of a set. The elements
(members) of a set should be distinct (not be repeated), well-defined (well-explained) and may be written in any
order.

Notation
Sets are usually denoted by uppercase letters 𝐴, 𝐵, 𝐶, ⋯ and so on. Elements or members of a set are usually denoted
by lowercase letters. We write 𝑥 ∈ 𝐴 to denote that 𝑥 is an element of the set 𝐴 or 𝑥 is a member of the set 𝐴. On
the other hand, 𝑥 ∉ 𝐴 means that 𝑥 is not an element of (or does not belong to) the set 𝐴.

Representation of a Set
There are two main ways of representing, or describing, or specifying a set.
1. Roaster form or listing form:
Elements of the set are listed within the pair of curly brackets { } and are separated by commas. For example,
a) Let N denote the set of first five natural numbers. The roaster form represents N as,
N = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
b) The set of all vowels of the English alphabet, denoted by V, is written in roaster form as
V = {a, e, i, o, u}
c) The set of all odd numbers less than 9, denoted by X, is written in roaster form as
X = {1, 3, 5, 7}
TAPEDZESA G, MATHEMATICS & STATISTICS DEPARTMENT, NUST
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d) The set of all letters in the word MATHEMATICS, denoted by B, is written in roaster form as
B = {M, A, T, H, E, I, C, S}
Note that the order in which elements are listed is immaterial but elements must not be repeated.
2. Set-builder form:
A rule, or the formula or the statement is written within the pair of brackets so that the set is well defined. In the
set builder form, all the elements of the set, must possess a single property to become the member of that set.
For example:
a) Let P is a set of natural (counting) numbers greater than 12; then the set P in set-builder form is written as
𝑃 = {𝑥 ∶ 𝑥 is a natural number and 𝑥 > 12}
or
𝑃 = {𝑥 | 𝑥 is a natural number and 𝑥 > 12}
This will be read as, 'P is the set of elements x such that x is a natural number and is greater than 12'.
Note that the symbol ':' or '|' placed between 2 x's stands for such that.

b) Let A denote the set of even numbers between 6 and 14 (inclusive). It can be written in the set-builder
form as;
𝐴 = {𝑥 ∶ 𝑥 is even, and 6 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 14}
or
𝐴 = {𝑥 | 𝑥 is even, and 6 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 14}

c) If X = {4, 5, 6, 7}. This is expressed in roster form. Let us express in set-builder form:
𝑋 = {𝑥 ∶ 𝑥 is a natural number and 3 < 𝑥 < 8}

d) The set B of all odd natural numbers can be written as

𝐵 = {𝑥|𝑥 is a natural number and 𝑥 = 2𝑛 + 1 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑛 ∈ 𝑍}

Exercise: Express the set of integers lying between -2 and 3 (inclusive) in roaster or listing form and in set-builder
form.

Here are the standard sets of numbers which occur frequently in mathematics:
1. N: the set of natural or counting numbers; that is 1, 2, 3, 4,…
• in roaster form, 𝑁 = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ⋯ }
• in set-builder form, 𝑁 = {𝑥: 𝑥 is a natural number}
2. Z: the set of integers.
• in roaster form, 𝑍 = {⋯ , −3 , −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, 3, ⋯ }
• in set-builder form, 𝑍 = {𝑥: 𝑥 is an integer}
3. Q: the set of rational numbers.
• No in roaster form for the set of rational numbers.
𝑝
• in set-builder form, 𝑄 = {𝑥: 𝑥 = 𝑞 , where 𝑝, 𝑞 ∈ 𝑍}
4. R: the set of real numbers.
• No in roaster form for the set of real numbers.
• in set-builder form, 𝑅 = {𝑥: 𝑥 is a rea number}

Empty set or Null set

A set which does not contain any element is called an empty set, or the null set and it is denoted by the symbol ∅. In
roster form, ∅ is denoted by { }. As an example, the set of natural numbers less than 0 is an empty set.
Note that ∅ ≠ {0} since {0} is a set which has one element 0.

Equal sets
Two sets A and B are said to be equal, that is A=B, if they have exactly the same elements.

TAPEDZESA G, MATHEMATICS & STATISTICS DEPARTMENT, NUST

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Subset (⊆)
If A and B are two sets, and every element of set A is also an element of set B, then A is called a subset of B and we
write it as 𝑨 ⊆ 𝑩 or 𝑩 ⊇ 𝑨; which reads ‘A is a subset of (or is contained in) B. Consequently, by definition, every set
is a subset of itself; that is, 𝐴 ⊆ 𝐴. By convention, the null set is a subset of all sets. For example,
1. If 𝐴 = {2, 4, 6} and 𝐵 = {6, 4, 8, 2}, then A is a subset of B since all the elements of set A are contained in set B;
that is, 𝐴 ⊆ 𝐵.
2. The set N of natural numbers is a subset of the set Z of integers and we write 𝑁 ⊆ 𝑍.
3. Let 𝐴 = {2, 4, 6} and 𝐵 = {𝑥 ∶ 𝑥 is an even natural number less than 8}, then 𝐴 ⊆ 𝐵 and also 𝐵 ⊆ 𝐴. Hence
we say that 𝐴 = 𝐵.
4. If A = {1, 2, 3, 4} and B = {4, 5, 6, 7}, then 𝐴 is not a subset of 𝐵 and also 𝐵 is not a subset of 𝐴.
Note that
1. if 𝐴 ⊆ 𝐵 and 𝐵 ⊆ 𝐴 then 𝐴 = 𝐵.
2. Every set is a subset of itself; that is 𝐴 ⊆ 𝐴.
3. The empty set ∅ is a subset of every set.

Universal set
A universal set is the underlying set containing all possible elements from which all other related sets are constructed.
The symbol for denoting a universal set is or  or ξ. For example,
1. If the universal set is Ω = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15}, then we can construct any other
set(s ), say A, B and C, using elements in the universal set as follows:
𝐴 = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10}, 𝐵 = {2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 11, 12}, 𝐶 = {3, 6, 9, 12,15}
But 𝐷 = {2, 3, 7, 11, 14, 17, 18} cannot be constructed using the underlying universal set. Why?
2. If the universal set is Ω = {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑, 𝑒, 𝑓, 𝑔, 𝑚, 𝑛, 𝑝, 𝑞, 𝑟}, then we can construct any other set(s ), say A, B
and C, using elements in the universal set as follows:
𝐴 = {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑, 𝑒}, 𝐵 = {𝑐, 𝑑, 𝑓, 𝑚, 𝑛, 𝑝}, 𝐶 = {𝑚, 𝑛, 𝑝, 𝑞, 𝑟}
Note that if 𝐴 ⊆ Ω, 𝐵 ⊆ Ω, 𝐶 ⊆ Ω.

Operations on Sets
Union of sets
The union of two sets A and B, denoted A∪B, is the set of all objects that belong to A, or B, or both. Thus,
𝐴 ∪ 𝐵 = {𝑥 ∶ 𝑥 ∈ 𝐴 𝐨𝐫 𝑥 ∈ 𝐵}
For example,
1. If 𝐴 = {1, 3, 7, 5} and 𝐵 = {3, 7, 8, 9}, then 𝐴 ∪ 𝐵 = {1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9}.
No element is repeated in the union of two sets. In this example the common elements 3, 7 are taken only once.
2. If 𝐴 = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10} and 𝐵 = {2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 11, 12}, then 𝐴 ∪ 𝐵 = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12}.

Exercise: If P = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}, Q = {0, 3, 6, 9, 12} and R = {2, 4, 6, 8}. Find the union of sets
(i) P and Q, (ii) P and R, (iii) Q and R

Some properties of the operation of union:

i. 𝐴∪𝐵 = 𝐵∪𝐴 (Commutative law)
ii. 𝐴 ∪ (𝐵 ∪ 𝐶) = (𝐴 ∪ 𝐵) ∪ 𝐶 (Associative law)
iii. 𝐴 ∪ ∅ = ∅∪𝐴 = 𝐴 (Law of identity element, is the identity of ∪)
iv. 𝐴∪𝐴 = 𝐴 (Idempotent law)
v. Ω∪𝐴 = 𝐴∪Ω = Ω (Law of Ω) Ω is the universal set.

Intersection of sets
The intersection of sets A and B, denoted A ∩ B, is the set of all elements that are common to both A and B. Thus,
A ∩ B = {x ∶ x ∈ A 𝐚𝐧𝐝 x ∈ B}
For example,
TAPEDZESA G, MATHEMATICS & STATISTICS DEPARTMENT, NUST
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1. If A = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10} and B = {1, 3, 8, 4, 6}, then A ∩ B = {4, 6, 8}.

2. If 𝐴 = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10} and 𝐵 = {2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 11, 12}, then 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 = {2, 3, 4}.

Example: Given that Ω = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12}, 𝐴 = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6}, 𝐵 = {2, 4, 6, 8, 10}, then
a) 𝐴 ∪ 𝐵 = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10}
b) 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 = {2, 4, 6}
c) 𝐴𝑐 = {1, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12}
d) 𝑛(𝐴 ∪ 𝐵) = 7
e) 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵𝑐 = {3, 5}

Exercise: If 𝐴 = {4, 6, 8, 10, 12}, 𝐵 = { 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18} and 𝐶 = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}. Find the
intersection of sets (i) P and Q, (ii) P and R, (iii) Q and R.

Some properties of the operation of intersection

i. 𝐴∩𝐵 = 𝐵∩𝐴 (Commutative law)
ii. (𝐴 ∩ 𝐵) ∩ 𝐶 = 𝐴 ∩ (𝐵 ∩ 𝐶) (Associative law)
iii. ∅ ∩ 𝐴 = 𝐴∩∅ = ∅ (Law of ∅)
iv. Ω∩𝐴 = 𝐴∩Ω = 𝐴 (Law of Ω)
v. 𝐴∩𝐴 = 𝐴 (Idempotent law)
vi. 𝐴 ∩ (𝐵 ∪ 𝐶) = (𝐴 ∩ 𝐵) ∪ (𝐴 ∩ 𝐶) (Distributive law) Here ∩ distributes over ∪
vii. 𝐴 ∪ (𝐵 ∩ 𝐶) = (𝐴𝑈𝐵) ∩ (𝐴𝑈𝐶) (Distributive law) Here ∪ distributes over ∩
viii. (𝐴 ∩ 𝐵)𝑐 = 𝐴𝑐 ∪ 𝐵𝑐 (De Morgan’s law)
ix. (𝐴 ∪ 𝐵)𝑐 = 𝐴𝑐 ∩ 𝐵𝑐 (De Morgan’s law)

Complement of a set
The complement of a set A relative to a universal set Ω, denoted Ac or A is the set of all members of Ω that are not
members of A. Thus, 𝐴′ = {𝑥 ∶ 𝑥 ∈ Ω 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑥 ∉ 𝐴}. For example,
1. If Ω = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7} and A = {1, 3, 7}, then 𝐴′ = {2, 4, 5, 6} .
2. Let the set of natural numbers be the universal set and A is a set of even natural numbers, then
𝐴′ = {𝑥: 𝑥 is a set of odd natural numbers}.
3. Let Ω be the set of letters in the English alphabet A the set of vowels in the English alphabet. Then A' is the set of
consonants in the English alphabet.

Some properties of the complement of a set

i. (𝐴𝑐 )𝑐 = 𝐴 (Self-inverse law)
ii. Ω𝑐 = ∅ (Law of Ω) Ω is the universal set.
iii. ∅𝑐 = Ω (Law of ∅) ∅ is the empty set.

Difference of two sets

The difference of two sets A and B, denoted by 𝐴 − 𝐵 or 𝐴\𝐵, is the set whose elements are members of the set A and
are not members of the set B. Thus, 𝐴 − 𝐵 = {𝑥: 𝑥 ∈ 𝐴, and 𝑥 ∉ 𝐵} and so 𝐵 − 𝐴 = {𝑥: 𝑥 ∈ 𝐵, and 𝑥 ∉ 𝐴}. For
example,
1. If 𝐴 = {2, 3, 4} and 𝐵 = {4, 5, 6}, then 𝐴 − 𝐵 = {2, 3} .
2. Let A = {a, b, c, d, e, f} and B = {b, d, f, g}, then A - B = {a, c, e}.
The difference of sets A and B is also known as the relative complement of a set B with respect to a set A.

Some properties of the set difference

i. 𝐴−𝐴 = ∅
ii. 𝐴−∅ = 𝐴
iii. ∅− 𝐴 = ∅
iv. Ω∩𝐴 = 𝐴∩Ω = 𝐴
v. 𝐴∩𝐴 = 𝐴
TAPEDZESA G, MATHEMATICS & STATISTICS DEPARTMENT, NUST
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vi. 𝐵 − 𝐴 = ∅ iff 𝐵 ⊂ 𝐴
vii. (𝐴 − 𝐵) ∩ (𝐵 − 𝐴) = ∅
viii. 𝐴 ∩ (𝐵 − 𝐴) = ∅

Venn Diagrams and Applications

A Venn diagram is a way of representing sets visually. More formally, a Venn diagram or set diagram is a diagram that
shows all possible logical relations between a finite collection of sets. The notation of a Venn diagram was conceived
around 1880 by John Venn. In Venn diagrams, the Universal Set Ω or 𝑈 or ξ is represented by a rectangle and all other
sets under consideration by circles within the rectangle. In this section, we will use Venn diagrams to illustrate various
operations of sets (complement, union, intersection, difference).

1. The intersection, 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵, of set A and set B can be displayed showing a Venn diagram as:

2. The union, 𝐴 ∪ 𝐵, of set A and set B can be displayed showing a Venn diagram as:

3. The complement, 𝐴𝑐 , of a set A can be displayed showing a Venn diagram as:

Example: Represent the given information in a clearly labelled Venn diagram.

Ω = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}, 𝐴 = {1, 2, 3, 4}, 𝐵 = {3, 4, 5, 6}
Solution

Exercises
1. Let 𝐴 = {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐}, 𝐵 = {𝑎, 𝑏}, 𝐶 = {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑑}, 𝐷 = {𝑎}, 𝐸 = {𝑏, 𝑐}. State whether each of the following
statements is true or false.
a) 𝐵 ⊆ 𝐴 (b) 𝐸 ≠ 𝐶 (c) 𝐴=𝐵 (d) 𝐷 ⊆ 𝐴

2. Which of the following sets is the empty set?

a) {𝑥: 𝑥 is an odd integer, and 𝑥 2 = 4},
b) {𝑥: 𝑥 is an integer, and 𝑥 + 8 = 8},
c) {𝑥: 𝑥 ∈ N, and 𝑥 < 1}.

3. Suppose the universal set Ω is the set of all plane shapes, and define sets 𝐴, 𝐵, 𝐶, 𝐷, 𝐸 as
𝐴 = {𝑥: 𝑥 is a quadrilateral}, 𝐵 = {𝑥: 𝑥 is a parallelogram}, 𝐶 = {𝑥: 𝑥 is a rhombus},
𝐷 = {𝑥: 𝑥 is a rectangle}, 𝐸 = {𝑥: 𝑥 is a square}
a) Determine which sets are subsets of others.

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b) Find the union and intersection of each pair of sets.

4. If Ω = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ⋯ , 30} is the universal set and

𝑋 = {1, 2, 3, 4, ⋯ , 10}, 𝑌 = {2, 4, 6, 8, ⋯ , 20}, 𝑍 = {15, 16, 17, ⋯ , 25}
Find (a) 𝑋 ∩ 𝑌 (b) 𝑛(𝑋 ∪ 𝑌) (c) 𝑋 ∪ 𝑍

5. Given that 𝛀 = {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, ⋯ , 𝑗}, 𝑨 = {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑, 𝑒}, 𝑩 = {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑑, 𝑓, 𝑔}, 𝑪 = {𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑒, 𝑔, ℎ}, 𝑫 = {𝑑, 𝑒, 𝑓, 𝑔, ℎ}.
Find (a) 𝐴𝑐 ∩ (𝐵 ∪ 𝐷) (b) (𝐴 ∩ 𝐷)𝑐 ∪ 𝐵 (c) 𝑛(𝐵 ∩ 𝐶 ∩ 𝐷)𝑐

6. Let 𝐴 = {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑}, 𝐵 = {𝑏, 𝑑, 𝑓, ℎ}, 𝐶 = {𝑐, 𝑑, 𝑒, 𝑓}. Find

a) the union and intersection of each pair of sets.
b) (i) A – B, (ii) B – A, (iii) B – C, (iv) C – B, (v) A – C, (vi) C – A

7. Suppose Z (the set of integers) is the universal set and let 𝐴 = {𝑥: 𝑥 is a multiple of 10} and 𝐵 =
{𝑥: 𝑥 is a multiple of 15}. Find 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵, expressing your answer in set-builder form.

8. Taking R as the universal set, express the following intervals as simply as possible in set-builder form.
(a) [1, 3]𝑐 , (b) (1, 7]𝑐 , (c) [5, 8)𝑐 , (d) (3, 7) ∪ [6, 8], (e) (−∞, 3)𝑐 ∪ (6, ∞), (f) (1, 4] ∩ [4, 10],
𝑐
(g) (1, 2) ∩ [2,3), (h) ((6, 8) ∩ (7, 9]) , (i) ((−∞, 5] ∪ (7, ∞))𝑐

Algebra of Set; Duality

Sets, under the operations of union, intersection, and complement, satisfy the laws of the algebra of sets tabulated
below.

Finite set
A set which contains a definite (specific) number of elements is called a finite set. For example,
1. The set of all natural numbers less than 7 {𝑥 ∶ 𝑥 ∈ 𝑁, 𝑥 < 7} is a finite set.
2. The set of all colors on your clothes is a finite set.
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3. The set 𝑃 of prime numbers less than 100; that is, 𝑃 = {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, ⋯ , 97} is a finite set.
4. The empty set ∅ is an example of a finite set, since there are 0 elements in an empty set.

Infinite set
A set whose elements cannot be listed, that is, a set containing never-ending elements is called an infinite set. For
example, the set of all real numbers is infinite.

Cardinal number (cardinality) of a set

The number of distinct elements in a given set A is called the cardinal number, or simply cardinality, of A. It is denoted
by 𝑛(𝐴). For example,
1. If X is the set of letters in the word ALGEBRA; that is, X = {A, L, G, E, B, R}, then 𝑛(𝐵) = 6.
2. If 𝐴 = {𝑥 ∶ 𝑥 ∈ 𝑁, 𝑥 < 5}; that is, 𝐴 = {1, 2, 3, 4}, then 𝑛(𝐴) = 4.
3. The set C = {Namibia, Zambia, Angola, Botswana} has 4 elements. Therefore 𝑛(𝐶) = 4.
4. The empty set ∅ = { } has no element. Therefore 𝑛(∅) = 0.
Note that the cardinal number of an infinite set is not defined.

Exercises: Write the cardinal number of each of the following sets:

1. The set of letters in the word MALAYALAM.
2. The set of natural numbers between 20 and 50, which are divisible by 7.
3. 𝑃 = {𝑥 | 𝑥 ∈ 𝑁 and 𝑥 2 < 30}

Some important properties of the cardinal number of the union and intersection of sets
a) 𝑛(𝐴 ∪ 𝐵) = 𝑛(𝐴) + 𝑛(𝐵) − 𝑛(𝐴 ∩ 𝐵)
b) 𝑛(𝐴 ∪ 𝐵 ∪ 𝐶) = 𝑛(𝐴) + 𝑛(𝐵) + 𝑛(𝐶) − 𝑛(𝐴 ∩ 𝐵) − 𝑛(𝐴 ∩ 𝐶) − 𝑛(𝐵 ∩ 𝐶) + 𝑛(𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 ∩ 𝐶)
c) 𝑛(𝐴 − 𝐵) = 𝑛(𝐴) − 𝑛(𝐴 ∩ 𝐵)
d) 𝑛(𝐵 − 𝐴) = 𝑛(𝐵) − 𝑛(𝐴 ∩ 𝐵)

Example 1: If P and Q are two sets such that 𝑃 ∪ 𝑄 has 40 elements, P has 22 elements and Q has 28 elements,
how many elements does 𝑃 ∩ 𝑄 have?

Solution: Given 𝑛(𝑃 ∪ 𝑄) = 40,𝑛(𝑃) = 18, 𝑛(𝑄) = 22; we know that 𝑛(𝑃 𝑈 𝑄) = 𝑛(𝑃) + 𝑛(𝑄) − 𝑛(𝑃 ∩ 𝑄).
So, 40 = 22 + 28 − 𝑛(𝑃 ∩ 𝑄) ⟹ 40 = 50 − 𝑛(𝑃 ∩ 𝑄); and therefore 𝑛(𝑃 ∩ 𝑄) = 50 − 40 = 10.

Example 2: In a class of 40 students, 15 like to play cricket and football and 20 like to play cricket. How many like to
play football only but not cricket?

Solution: Let C be the set of students who like cricket, and F be the set of students who like football. Then
𝐹 − 𝐶 is the set of students who like football only. We know that
𝑛(𝐹 − 𝐶) = 𝑛(𝐹) − 𝑛(𝐹 ∩ 𝐶)
Now, given that 𝑛(𝐶) = 20, 𝑛(𝐶 ∩ 𝐹) = 15, 𝑛 (𝐶 𝑈 𝐹) = 40 we have
𝑛(𝐶 ∪ 𝐹) = 𝑛(𝐶) + 𝑛(𝐹) − 𝑛(𝐶 ∩ 𝐹) ⟹ 40 = 20 + 𝑛(𝐹) − 15, and so 𝑛(𝐹) = 35.
Thus, 𝑛(𝐹 − 𝐶) = 𝑛(𝐹) − 𝑛 (𝐶 ∩ 𝐹) = 35 − 15 = 20. Therefore, 20 students like football only but not cricket.

Example 3: There is a group of 80 persons who drink coffee or rooibos tea (or both). Out of these, 35 drink coffee
and 60 drink rooibos tea.
a) How many drink both coffee and rooibos tea?
b) How many drink coffee only?
c) How many drink rooibos tea only?

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Solution: Let C be the set of persons who drink coffee, and R be the set of persons who drink rooibos tea. Then
𝑛(𝐶 ∪ 𝑅) = 80, 𝑛(𝐶) = 35, 𝑛(𝑅) = 60.
a) 𝑛(𝐶 ∪ 𝑅) = 𝑛(𝐶) + 𝑛(𝑅) − 𝑛(𝐶 ∩ 𝑅) ⟹ 80 = 35 + 60 − 𝑛(𝐶 ∩ 𝑅) ⟹ 𝑛(𝐶 ∩ 𝑅) = 95 − 80 = 15.
Therefore, 15 persons drink both coffee and rooibos tea.
b) 𝑛(𝐶 − 𝑅) = 𝑛(𝐶) − 𝑛(𝐶 ∩ 𝑅) = 35 − 15 = 20.
Therefore, 20 persons drink coffee only.
c) 𝑛(𝑅 − 𝐶) = 𝑛(𝑅) − 𝑛(𝑅 ∩ 𝐶) = 60 − 15 = 45.
Therefore, 45 persons drink rooibos tea only.

Example 4: It was found that out of 45 girls, 10 joined singing but not dancing and 24 joined singing.
a) How many joined dancing but not singing?
b) How many joined both?

Solution: Let S be the set of girls who joined singing, and D be the set of girls who joined dancing. Then
𝑛(𝐷 ∪ 𝑆) = 45, 𝑛(𝑆 − 𝐷) = 10, 𝑛(𝑆) = 24.
a) 𝑛(𝐷 − 𝑆) = 𝑛(𝐷) − 𝑛(𝐷 ∩ 𝑆) = 𝑛(𝐷 ∪ 𝑆) − 𝑛(𝑆) = 45 − 24 = 21.
Thus, 21 girls joined dancing but not singing.
b) 𝑛(𝑆 − 𝐷)𝑛(𝑆) − 𝑛(𝑆 ∩ 𝐷) ⟹ 𝑛(𝑆 ∩ 𝐷) = 𝑛(𝑆) − 𝑛(𝑆 − 𝐷) = 24 − 10 = 14.
Thus, 14 girls joined both singing and dancing.

Exercises
1. In a class of 30 girls, 18 play netball and 14 play hockey, whilst 5 play neither. Find the number of girls who play
both netball and hockey.

2. The sets M and N intersect such that 𝑛(𝑀) = 31, 𝑛(𝑁) = 18 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛(𝑀 ∪ 𝑁) = 35. How many elements are in
both M and N?

3. In (a) – (e) below, assuming that A and B are sets defined over an appropriate universal set,
i. Write the number of elements in (𝐴 ∩ 𝐵)𝑐 in terms of 𝑥.
ii. Write the number of elements in A but not in B in terms of 𝑥.
iii. Write the number of elements in B but not in A in terms of 𝑥.
iv. Hence, or otherwise, find the value of 𝑥.

a) n( A) = 16, n( B) = 19, n( A  B) = x and n( A  B) = 29

b) n( A) = 22, n( B) = 28, n( A  B ) = x and n( A  B) = 42.
c) n( A) = 23, n( B) = 13, n( A  B ) = x and n( A  B ) = 29.
d) n( A) = 24, n( B) = 41, n( A  B) = x and n( A  B) = 44.
e) n( A) = 70 − x, n( B) = 75, n( A  B) = 2 x and n( A  B) = 115.

4. Out of 600 students taking the course, Algebra and Trigonometry (ALT111S), it was found that there are 220 male
students. It was further found that 20x students qualified to write June examination of which 5x students are
male. Only 5 female students do not qualify to write June examination. Calculate the value of 𝑥 and hence
determine
a) the number of students who qualified to write June examination.
b) the number of female students who qualified to write June examination.

5. In the following Venn diagram, the universal set U is the set of people booked in a certain hotel, B is the set of
people who like bacon and E is the set of people who like eggs.

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a) How many people like bacon?

b) How many people like eggs but not bacon?
c) How many people like bacon and eggs?
d) How many people are booked in the hotel?
e) How many people like neither bacon nor egg?

6. A survey on regular payment of municipal bills was carried out on 140 house owners. It was found that 60 pay
electricity (E) bills regularly and 45 pay water (W) bills regularly. Further, 20 pay both bills regularly. Use a Venn
diagram to find the number of house owners who
a) pay at least one of the bills regularly.
b) pay exactly one of the two bills regularly
c) do not pay either bill regularly.
7. Use the information given in the Venn diagram below to determine the values of 𝑝, 𝑞 and 𝑟.
Note that 𝑛(Ω) = 560, 𝑛(𝐵) = 130 and 𝑛(𝐶) = 200.

8. In a survey of 200 households regarding the ownership of desktop and laptop computers, the following
information was obtained: 120 households own only desktop computers, 10 households own only laptop
computers and 40 households own neither desktop nor laptop computers. How many households own both
desktop and laptop computers?

9. Out of 360 students interviewed, it was found that 185 students speak Spanish (S), 55 students speak neither
Spanish nor Portuguese. Furthermore, ( x + 7) students speak Portuguese (P) only and x speak both languages.
a) Draw a Venn diagram and show the information as given above on the Venn diagram.
b) Solve for x and hence find the number of students who speak Spanish only.
10. In a group of 155 students, it was discovered that 70 students are male (M), 90 students are first year students (Y)
and 15 are neither male nor first year students.
a) Present this information in form of a Venn diagram.
b) How many female students were first year?
c) How many male students were first year?

11. A survey shows that 71% of Indians like to watch cricket, whereas 64% like to watch hockey. What percentage of
Indians like to watch both cricket and hockey? (Assuming that every Indian watches at least one of these games).

Exercises on Venn diagrams of three sets

1. In the following Venn diagram, the universal set 𝑈 is the set of cars in a street, A is the set of blue cars, L is a set of
cars with left-hand drive, and F cars with four doors.

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a) How many cars are blue?

b) How many blue cars have four doors?
c) How many cars with left-hand drive have four doors?
d) How many blue cars have left-hand drive?
e) How many cars are in the street?
f) How many blue cars with left-hand drive do not have four doors?
2. In a school with a student population of 204 it was found that the number of girls in that school is 105. It was also
discovered that there are 117 students who can swim, 97 students who are left-handed, 80 girls who can swim,
65 girls who are left-handed, 62 left-handed students who can swim and 50 left-handed girls who can swim. Draw
a Venn diagram representing the given information and use it to answer the following questions.
a) How many left-handed children are there?
b) How many girls cannot swim?
c) How many boys can swim?
d) How many girls are left-handed?
e) How many boys are left-handed?
f) How many left-handed girls can swim?
g) How many boys are there in the school?

3. In a school, students must take at least one of the subjects: Mathematics, Physics or Chemistry. In a class of 50
students, 7 take all three subjects, 9 take physics and Chemistry only, 8 take Maths and Physics only, 5 take Maths
and Chemistry only, 𝑥 take Math only, 𝑥 take physics only and 𝑥 + 3 take Chemistry only.
a) Draw a Venn diagram,
b) Find the value of 𝑥, and hence find the number taking Maths.

4. All of 60 different vitamin pills contain at least one of the vitamins A, B and C. Twelve have A only, 7 have B only,
and 11 have C only. If 6 have all three vitamins and there are 𝑥 having A and B only, B and C only and A and C only,
how many pills contain vitamin A?

5. Use set operations to describe the shaded region in the Venn diagram below.

6. In a street of 150 houses, three different newspapers (T, G, and M) are delivered. Of the 150 houses, 40 receive T,
35 receive G, and 60 receive M, 7 receive T and G, 10 receive G and M and 4 receive T and M, 34 receive no paper
at all. How many receive all three?

7. A team of athletes was selected to compete in long jump (L), javelin (J) and high jump (H). The following Venn
diagram is a complete representation of the distribution of the selected athletes.

From the above Venn diagram find the total number of athletes in
(a) (𝐿 ∪ 𝐻)𝑐 ∪ 𝐽 (b)(𝐿 ∪ 𝐻) ∩ 𝐽

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8. Given the universal set Ω = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑, 𝑒} and sets 𝐴 = {1, 2, 3, 𝑐, 𝑑}, 𝐵 = {2, 3, 𝑎, 𝑏}, 𝐶 = {1, 4, 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑑},
draw a Venn diagram to represent the given information.

9. In a group of 305 students, it was discovered that 95 students are male (M ) , 50 students are male first year
students (Y) and 45 are neither male nor first year students.
a) Present this information in a Venn diagram.
b) How many female students were first year?

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c) How many male students were not first year?

Classes of Sets
Given a set 𝑆, we might wish to talk about some of its subsets. Thus, we will be considering a set of sets, which we shall
refer to as a class of sets or collection of sets, instead.

For example, suppose 𝑆 = {1,2,3,4}, and let 𝒜 be a class of subsets of 𝑆 which contain exactly three elements of 𝑆.
Then
𝒜 = {{1,2,3}, {1,2,4}, {1,3,4}, {2,3,4}}
The elements of 𝒜 are the sets {1,2,3}, {1,2,4}, {1,3,4}, {2,3,4}.
Let, on the other hand, ℬ be a class of subsets of 𝑆 which contain 2 and any other two elements of 𝑆. Then
ℬ = {{1,2,3}, {1,2,4}, {2,3,4}}
The elements of ℬ are the sets {1,2,3}, {1,2,4}, {2,3,4}. Therefore ℬ is a subclass of 𝒜, since every element of ℬ
is also an element of 𝒜.

Power Sets
For a given set 𝑆, we may speak of a collection of all subsets of 𝑆. This collection is called the power set of 𝑆, and we
denote it by 𝒫(𝑆). For example, if 𝑆 = {1,2,3}, then

𝒫(𝑆) = {ϕ, {1}, {2}, {3}, {1, 2}, {1, 3}, {2, 3}, 𝑆}
Note that the empty set ϕ and the set 𝑆 itself are both subsets of 𝑆.

Ordered Pairs
An ordered pair consists of two elements, of which one is designated as the first element and the other as the second
element. Such an ordered pair is written (𝑎, 𝑏), where a is the first element and b is the second element.

Two ordered pairs (𝑎, 𝑏) and (𝑐, 𝑑) are said to be equal if and only if 𝑎 = 𝑐 and 𝑏 = 𝑑.

Product Sets
Let A and B be two sets. The product set (or Cartesian product) of A and B, written 𝐴 × 𝐵, consists of all ordered pairs
(𝑎, 𝑏) where 𝑎 ∈ 𝐴 and 𝑏 ∈ 𝐵:
𝐴 × 𝐵 = {(𝑎, 𝑏) ∶ 𝑎 ∈ 𝐴, 𝑏 ∈ 𝐵}
The product of a set A with itself, 𝐴 × 𝐴, is sometimes written as 𝐴2 .

Product Sets in General

• The concept of a product set can be extended to more than two sets in a natural way.
• The Cartesian product of sets 𝐴, 𝐵 , 𝐶, denoted by 𝐴 × 𝐵 × 𝐶, consists of all ordered triplets (𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐) where 𝑎 ∈ 𝐴 ,
𝑏 ∈ 𝐵 and 𝑐 ∈ 𝐶:
𝐴 × 𝐵 × 𝐶 = {(𝑎, 𝑏) ∶ 𝑎 ∈ 𝐴, 𝑏 ∈ 𝐵, 𝑐 ∈ 𝐶}
Example:

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Exercises
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

RELATIONS

Examples of relations
1. Let M be the set of men and W the set of women in a certain community, we can define a relation R from the
set M to W as follows:
𝑚𝑅𝑤 means "𝑚 is husband to 𝑤"

2. Suppose Lisa has two brothers Jonas and Felix, Mariah has one brother David, and Anna has one brother Tomas.
If we define the sets A and B as
𝐴 = {𝐽𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑠, 𝐹𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑥, 𝐷𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑑, 𝑇𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑠}
𝐵 = {𝐿𝑖𝑠𝑎, 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎ℎ, 𝐴𝑛𝑛𝑎}

Then we can define a relation R from the set A to B as follows:

𝑎𝑅𝑏 means "𝑎 is a brother of 𝑏"
That is,
𝐽𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑠 𝑹 𝐿𝑖𝑠𝑎, 𝐹𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑥 𝑹 𝐿𝑖𝑠𝑎, 𝐷𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑑 𝑅 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎ℎ, 𝑇𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑠 𝑅 𝐴𝑛𝑛𝑎

We can write the relation R in form of ordered pairs as:

𝑅 = {(𝐽𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑠, 𝐿𝑖𝑠𝑎), (𝐹𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑥, 𝐿𝑖𝑠𝑎), (𝐷𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑑, 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎ℎ), (𝑇𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑠, 𝐴𝑛𝑛𝑎)}

Class Activity: Give your own example(s) of a relation defined on arbitrary sets A and B.

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Turn to page 143 of the prescribed textbook for more illustrative examples.

Note that, a relation R from A to B is a subset of 𝐴 × 𝐵, that is 𝑅 ⊆ 𝐴 × 𝐵.

The domain of a relation R is the set of all first elements of the ordered pairs which belong to R, and the range of R is
the set of second elements.

Inverse Relations

Whole-class discussion: Determine the inverse of each of the relations defined in the examples above.

Exercise: For each of the relations R defined below,

a) Write R as a set of ordered pairs.
b) Find the inverse relation

Equivalence Relations
A relation R on a set A, that is a relation from A to A, is called an equivalence relation if it has the following three
properties:
• Reflexive
• Symmetric
• Transitive
Equivalence relations are often used to group together objects that are alike, or “equivalent”, in some sense.

Reflexivity
A relation R on a set A is called reflexive if 𝑎𝑅𝑎, that is (𝑎, 𝑎) ∈ 𝑅, for every 𝑎 ∈ 𝐴.

Examples

1. let A be the set of all students in the MIT112S class, and define a relation R on A as follows:
a) 𝑎𝑅𝑏 means "𝑎 was born in the same month as 𝑏".
Then R is reflexive since every student in the MIT112S class was born in the same month as himself, (𝑎𝑅𝑎).
b) 𝑎𝑅𝑏 means "𝑎 is wearing the same colour as 𝑏".
Is R reflexive?
c) 𝑎𝑅𝑏 means "𝑎 is older than 𝑏".
Is R reflexive?

2. let Z be the set of integers, and define a relation R on Z as follows:

𝑥𝑅𝑦 means x has the same parity as y,
that is, x and y are either both even or both odd.
Is R reflexive?

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Symmetry
A relation R on a set A is called symmetric if whenever 𝑎𝑅𝑏 then 𝑏𝑅𝑎, that is if (𝑎, 𝑏) ∈ 𝑅 implies (𝑏, 𝑎) ∈ 𝑅.

In-class activity: Determine whether each of the relations defined in the examples above is symmetric, or not.

Transitivity
A relation R on a set A is called transitive if whenever 𝑎𝑅𝑏 and 𝑏𝑅𝑐 then 𝑎𝑅𝑐, that is if (𝑎, 𝑏) ∈ 𝑅 and (𝑏, 𝑐) ∈ 𝑅
implies (𝑎, 𝑐) ∈ 𝑅.

In-class activity: Determine whether each of the relations defined in the examples above is transitive, or not.

Give your own examples of reflexive, symmetric and transitive relations.

Exercise
1. Determine whether the relation defined below is an equivalence relation, or not.

Equivalence Classes
Once you have an equivalence relation on a set A, you can use that relation to decompose A into what are called
equivalence classes:

TAPEDZESA G, MATHEMATICS & STATISTICS DEPARTMENT, NUST